Items

The Diablo series is all about drops; be they items, weapons, or armor.

Outside of the nearly endless combination of rare and magic items in the game, there are a few main items that you need to be familiar with.

Important Items

Health Orbs

Health Orbs aren't actually items you pick up in the world, but a new necessity in Diablo III. Where previous Diablo games allowed you to spam potions to stay at top health, the Potions of Minor Healing now have a 30 second cooldown, this means you need to collect Health Orbs to stay alive. Health Orbs drop sporadically in battle and their effectiveness can be augmented with weapon and armor bonuses. Health Orbs also automatically replenish your Followers and any summons you've raised.

Gold

Gold is the currency used in Diablo 3. All items bought or sold are paid for in gold, and as in Diablo 2 and Diablo 1, gold is automatically stored in a character's purse, without taking up inventory space. Gold does not need to be clicked on to pick it up in Diablo III; it's automatically picked up when a character moves near a stack on the ground.

Gold will be less plentiful and more valuable in Diablo III than it was in earlier installments of the game. Items sell for much less gold, coins dropped by monsters are in smaller heaps, and there is a lot more worth spending gold on than was the case in previous games.